A Labour MP is proposing the party should have TWO leaders, as a way of ending the civil war over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Roger Godsiff, Labour MP for Birmingham Hall Green, said the party should have one leader inside the House of Commons, who would be elected by MPs, and a second leader for the party as a whole.

In practice, it would allow Mr Corbyn to continue leading the wider party while MPs would choose their own leader inside Parliament, to represent the party during the weekly session of questions to the Prime Minister and other major events.

However, Mr Godsiff said the new arrangement should become permanent - so it continued even after Mr Corbyn stands aside, whenever that is.

He set out his proposal in a letter to MP John Cryer, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

It’s clear that Mr Corbyn does not have the support of Labour MPs after they passed a motion of no confidence in him, with 172 voting in favour of the motion and 40 voting against. More than 60 Labour MPs also resigned from the Shadow Cabinet and other shadow ministerial posts.

But Mr Corbyn has so far declined to step aside.

It means his opponents have the option of forcing a leadership contest, which would allow Labour members to choose between Mr Corbyn and another candidate.

However, some Labour MPs, reportedly including Black Country MP Tom Watson (Lab West Bromwich East), Labour’s Deputy Leader, believe this could simply result in Mr Corbyn being elected once again, making the divisions within the party even worse.

Roger Godsiff MP for Hall Green

Mr Godsiff said in his letter that his proposal would provide “a way out of the impasse”.

He said: “My proposal is that the ‘Leadership’ as defined in the existing Constitution be split.”

The existing leader would chair the ruling body of the national Labour Party, the National Executive Committee, while MPs would elect the shadow cabinet and “a leader of the Parliamentary Party.”

Mr Godsiff said: “There would, therefore, be a joint leadership of the Party. In furtherance of my suggestion I would make the following points.”

And he pointed out that some other parties, such as the SNP and Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, already have a similar system.

Mr Godsiff said that Labour was in danger of splitting into rival parties if nothing changed,

“If Jeremy Corbyn chooses not to stand down and the overwhelming majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party refused to back down then you already have a ‘split’ in the Party and the ingredients for a civil war but with political blood all over the floor as the membership starts trying to deselect sitting MPs they believe have sought to undermine Jeremy.

“The only way to stand any chance of avoiding this is to acknowledge the ‘split’ and to put in place a new system which recognises that centralised power in the Party is no longer ‘fit for purpose’.”